Registering a Design in India: Eligibility, Procedure, Term, Rights and Cancellation
This article explains how the appearance of a product is protected under the Designs Act, 2000 and the Designs Rules, 2001 (as amended): what qualifies, who may apply, how an application proceeds, how long protection lasts, what rights follow and when a registration may be cancelled.
It matters because the main protection is lost by an act that is easy to commit: showing the product to the public before filing. Businesses, start-ups and designers who advise on or launch products need the sequence of steps right. No new notification or ruling is reported; the statute and the rules are in force.
What counts as a design
A design is the visual appearance of an article: its shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours, in two or three dimensions, judged by the eye in the finished article.
Three things fall outside design law:
- a method or principle of construction;
- a feature dictated purely by mechanical or technical function;
- an abstract concept.
Brand names and logos are trade mark matters. A decorative feature applied to a qualifying article, however, can still need a separate design assessment.
Conditions for registration
The design must:
- be new or original;
- not have been disclosed to the public, in India or abroad, before the filing date or the applicable priority date, whether by sale, catalogue, website, social media post or trade display;
- relate to appearance; and
- be applied to an article by an industrial process or means.